Biker chic part of home décor

By Karen Davis, For the Express-News :
June 21, 2013

Kanda Narciso painted chiles on the oak-stained upper kitchen cabinets in the far North Side home she and her husband, Dennis, bought last year.

A working replica of a motorcycle from “Easy Rider” sits in front of a mural painted by Kanda.

Niches on either side of the front door hold Kanda's artwork.

An old library card catalog has been stained and repurposed as a wine cabinet — one bottle fits in each drawer.

More art fills the wall in the dining room.

Hill Country views from the back deck add to the home's appeal.

Kanda's murals of the Big Apple's skyline give a spare bedroom its nickname.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Dinette area in the home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Wild West Room in the home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Spare bedroom called the Serengeti room in the home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Kitchen in the home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Home of Kanda and Dennis Narciso.

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House rules

It doesn't have to cost a fortune or take a lot of time to bring color into a neutral palette, Kanda Narciso said. Here are her tips:

Color in the lines: Work with the architecture of the house. That way you get a look that's different but harmonious with what's already there.

Reuse and repurpose: Kanda searched area charity and resale stores regularly for used furniture that would work in her rooms. She and Dennis also got pieces from family members. She used old jewelry to decorate a chandelier in the dining room.

Window treatments: Curtains aren't a given. Blinds are enough for privacy, and designs can be painted around the windows or other materials used for a valance-type look. Kanda wove wooden blinds like a basket to provide decoration above some of the windows, and she used the curtains that were in the house when they bought it to cover headboards.

Stick to a theme: Kanda chose themes for the spare bedrooms from places she has been or is interested in: New York City, Serengeti and Wild West. “Use your imagination,” she says.

After deciding last fall to move here from Kansas, Dennis and Kanda Narciso quickly found just the house they wanted. It had four bedrooms, an open floor plan and a large back deck with a great view. Best of all, it was on the far North Side, just minutes from the Hill Country where the two like to ride their motorcycles.

There was just one problem.

“The color scheme was very neutral, with off-white and beige walls, carpet and tile,” Kanda said. “I'm an artist, and I viewed this house as an empty canvas that needed to be painted.”

And paint she did. Today, the house bursts with color — vivid hues on the walls, chile designs painted on the kitchen cabinets and Kanda's vivid artworks scattered around the rooms. And she didn't spend a fortune on the project because she repurposed items she bought from resale stores or got from family members.

The Narcisos, both retired, say the décor of the 3,108-square-foot home is a mix of “industrial/eclectic” and Santa Fe. Their love of motorcycles influenced some of their design choices, notably a diamond-plate metal fireplace surround and a tailpipe sculpture above it in the den.

The most striking piece, though, is a full-size, working replica of the red, white and blue Captain America Harley-Davidson chopper from the 1960s film “Easy Rider.” It has its own room just off the front entry, sitting in front of a mural Kanda painted of the Starlight Theatre restaurant and saloon in Terlingua, one of the couple's favorite spots.

In the dining room, Kanda framed some of her paintings in sections of bamboo rather than expensive custom frames, and she used some old-fashioned brooches to decorate the long runner on the table. She also painted an arch around the front window.

In the kitchen, the lower cabinets are painted gray, and the upper cabinets have an oak stain with various kinds of chiles painted by Kanda on the doors. In the adjacent breakfast area, the standout piece is an old library card catalog Dennis got from his sister. It's been transformed into a wine cabinet, with each drawer holding a bottle of wine.

The master bedroom has a large bay window with musical instruments — a Russian balalaika and an American mandolin — hung on either side. They come from Dennis' family.

But it's the three spare bedrooms where Kanda gave her imagination free rein.

She calls one bedroom the “Serengeti room” because of its African décor. The chairs have zebra-print seats, and what appears to be a headboard for the bed actually is painted on the wall — a view of African trees. Artworks brought back from Africa by a family member decorate the walls, and a grouping of mirrors on one wall makes the room seem larger.

Down the hall is the “Big Apple room,” and as you might expect, Kanda has painted more than one view of the city she loves. A stacked, multi-canvas work depicts the New York skyline on the wall above the bed, and another skyline view is painted on an adjacent wall. Facing the bed is a painting of the Statue of Liberty's head.

The third spare bedroom is upstairs and has a Wild West theme, with rough-hewn furniture and Western art. It opens off a large second den that's decorated in an aviation theme in honor of Dennis being a pilot. Kanda covered one wall with a mural she painted from a photo of the Wright brothers' first flight a century ago.

While the house may look complete, Kanda said she's still thinking about other things she'd like to do.